PIll bottles

You'd better do as the doctor ordered and take your medicine ... or this pill bottle will annoy you in every technological way possible.

Vitality GlowCaps fit onto prescription bottles and monitor whether or not users are taking their medication as their doctors prescribed. The caps don't connect to the Internet itself, but they transmit data to an Internet-connected hub that plugs into the wall.

If users miss a dose, the cap will light up after 30 minutes. If the bottle remains closed an hour after that, the cap lights up and chimes. And if it's 2 hours past the dosage time, users will receive a text message or phone call.

"It can't be a subtle solution when you're dealing with health," says Vitality general manager Mike Trevino. "The technology has to be right there in front of you, in the bottle."

Customers can set the GlowCap system to send a weekly email to a loved one or a health provider detailing whether or not the patient is taking the medication. Another cool feature: users can press a tiny "refill" button on the GlowCaps, which connect them to their pharmacy via the phone.

The GlowCaps were available on Amazon last year for $10 to $15 a month, but Vitality pulled them down in order to focus on a brick-and-mortar launch. The company is working out the final details of a partnership with a major retailer, and plans to roll out in-store GlowCaps by the middle of next year.